SOTA c14s03
Text Appleloosa was suspicious and scared, and the atmosphere was only adding to the feeling of lingering malignancy in the air as Celestia looked slowly back and forth. As they walked down the wide dirt road towards the sheriff's office, the ivory mare could see ponies stepping out of buildings to stare at her with hope and amazement, likely thinking she was their princess... and it hurt Celestia's heart. So many of them looked so awed... but it only made the fact so many of them looked pale, exhausted, hurt in the soul stand out all the more, like how sometimes a light in the shadows could only strengthen the darkness everywhere around it. At her side, Princess Luna looked worriedly back and forth, whispering: “Freya, this... this sensation, I have never felt anything like it before. What do I sense?” “It's more familiar to me, but I can't place it myself.” Celestia replied quietly, shaking her head slowly and closing her eyes for a moment. “It's like something I've felt before, but... made more suffocating, more engulfing.” She stopped, then looked up as the sheriff looked up from where he was sitting on a chair in front of his home, a rifle falling out his lap as the mustached pony leapt up to his hooves before hurrying forwards, stumbling over his fallen weapon. “Princess Luna! Oh, I don't think I've ever been so happy to see anypony in my whole life! And... and is that... is that you, Princess Celestia?” The ivory mare only smiled faintly as the sheriff gaped up at the armored pony, her rainbow mane twisting slowly backwards as Ratatoskr peered down from her shoulder. “No, my name is Freya. But I am here to help, if I can. We have others here as well, all strong allies...” She paused, looking towards Princess Luna, but when the sapphire mare bowed her head in deference, Celestia continued calmly: “I need to know what's going on in town, including who is missing and if possible, when they vanished. And a platoon of Royal Guard will be arriving tomorrow as well, they will need a place to stay.” She stopped, and as the sheriff only continued to stare up at her with amazement, she prompted gently: “Perhaps you could take me to where the last disappearance occurred? And while on the way, tell me about the strange phenomenon that's been happening in the mountain?” “I... I... of course! Of course, yes, of course, right away!” the sheriff said hurriedly, nodding rapidly before he pointed down the road with a hoof, and Celestia calmly turned to follow with Princess Luna watching intently, Shining Armor, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie all striding along behind the winged unicorns. The pink earth pony seemed distracted by the town around them, looking uneasily at the ponies, the barricades that had been built here and there, the simple lack of joy... while Shining Armor, meanwhile, was looking at Celestia with newfound respect, as the sheriff rambled: “I'm... I'm glad to have help, believe me there, and I'm happy to help... however I can help! But... we've been up and down, and... well...” “Take a moment to gather your thoughts, it's alright.” Celestia said gently, and then she paused before glancing towards Ratatoskr, asking the squirrel in a quieter voice: “I know you understand me on some level, so please take a look around and come back to me if you find anything.” The red squirrel nodded a few times, then leapt quickly off Celestia and shot off down the street: only Princess Luna seemed to notice its departure, however, as the sheriff breathed slowly and looked ahead before he said finally, quietly: “This... ma'am, I don't know who you are, but Princess Luna, Miss... Freya... this isn't my fault. We've done everything in our power... I've done everything in my power to keep these ponies safe, and to help the buffalo out as I can. But no matter what we do... fences, traps, making the whole town jam into the tavern and any other community buildings where they can spend the night, however uncomfortable it is... it don't work.” “How many have gone missing?” Celestia asked quietly, and the sheriff looked down silently in shame. Princess Luna softened, but Celestia only said softly: “I need to know.” “Twenty-seven ponies. A big chunk of a little town... and a whole bunch of buffalo, too.” the sheriff said quietly, and then he sighed and turned down a side street, motioning ahead with his head, and Celestia looked up, eyes immediately locking on a spot marked with a single, bright-red post that had been hammered into the dirt ground in front of a business. “We... we've been asking for help for a month now, but...” “None of your letters were received by myself or Princess Celestia. We only recently became aware of the problem.” Princess Luna said softly, shivering in surprise. “Twenty-seven ponies... why hasn't anyone tried to contact any nearby settlements, or attempt to come to Canterlot themselves?” “What nearby settlements? Appleloosa is a frontier town still.” The sheriff laughed dryly as they approached the marked spot, then he sighed and looked miserably up at the general store sitting on the corner, the red pole standing out starkly against the background of the building's faded green paint. “The owner was... finishing up for the night, had a few of his employees helping him lock up. That, and no pony really wants to walk these streets alone anymore. It wasn't even that late, but... the moment the sun sets, you won't see a soul on these streets, unless they're in a big group.” “Well... apparently there was... a... a commotion outside. Some... some kind of noise.” The sheriff shuddered, eyes flicking to the side, and both winged unicorns recognized clearly he was trying to hide something from them, but for now neither commented. “Anyway, Starch, the owner, he... he kind of snapped. He grabbed a rifle and ran outside, saying he was gonna put a stop to this, and the stockboys said they heard a shot, and then it all went quiet. One of 'em went to the door, looked out, saw Starch standing right there, rifle in his hooves, just staring down the street... and then he was gone. Just vanished.” Celestia frowned at this, then she looked back and forth slowly before glancing at Princess Luna, saying quietly: “I'm going to take a look around.” “Of course. Sheriff, do you mind telling me a bit more about what's been happening here?” Princess Luna took over, and Celestia smiled a little despite herself: for all her differences, this Luna was still almost as sharp in a few ways as her little sister Brynhild. The ivory mare stood for a moment by the red post, mulling over the sheriff's words as she looked back and forth: in one direction, the dirt street became what was little more than a series of dusty paths winding around tenant buildings, while in the other direction, the street was open, and there were several lamps that would have helped light up the road... She faced in this direction, then looked back and forth before she noticed an irregularity, only a short distance away. The mare quickly strode towards this, then leaned down before she shivered as she reached a hoof slowly forwards, touching the splotch of blackness. “Corruption.” she whispered, and she understood that malevolence now, why it felt familiar. It was the same dark mire that ran through Scrivener's veins, except as she studied it, she understood clearly that this was even more concentrated, and somehow... different from Scrivener's. And as her eyes roved upwards, she noted that it had splattered over the street lamp as well, and even if she was generous in her estimation and thought the splatter had arced high and whatever had likely taken a bullet had been hit high up... she would guess that whatever had been hit had to at least be as large as she was. Maybe even larger. As she leaned forwards, she noticed something strange as well: the corruption had bonded to the metal, seemed to be... pulsing, and alive. The ivory mare shivered a little at the sight of this, and then she concentrated, her horn glowing bright gold. The same aura spread over the corruption on the pole, and it visibly boiled, making Celestia stumble backwards in surprise as the slime actually tried to fight off her magic before the mare concentrated harder, pouring more energy into the spell. And finally, grayness spread through the slime before it petrified completely. “Impossible. It's alive... not sentient, but still... alive.” Celestia whispered to herself, studying it silently, and then she glanced down as she felt something scrabble at her leg, her eyes widening... and then she sighed in relief, smiling faintly at the sight of Ratatoskr, the squirrel chittering at her before it leapt up and scrambled up to her shoulder. “Oh. I'm sorry, I thought...” The squirrel only chittered, then leaned carefully up as Celestia tilted her head, feeling it putting its mouth to her ear before the rodent whispered quietly: “This is a bad place. There's poison everywhere.” “Take a message to Discombobulation, I know you'll be able to find him. Tell him about what I've found, and that we're going to need...” She was cut off as there was a rumble in the distance, and behind her the sheriff cursed weakly as Princess Luna and the other ponies all looked up in surprise. Near the horizon, the sky had begun to turned a bruised black and purple, swirling, ill clouds spreading slowly outwards as flashes of poisonous light rumbled through them. Celestia grimaced at this sight, stepping slowly out onto the road so she could get a better view straight down the street and out of the small settlement, as Shining Armor slowly strode up beside her and whispered: “What in the name of Tartarus...” But Celestia didn't know: all she could do was look out at the storm, studying it silently before she felt a hand gently settle on her shoulder, and she looked up somehow without surprise to see Discombobulation was now standing beside her, his metal fingers gripping tightly into her armored shoulder. She looked up at him, and he looked back at her before nodding silently once, and then the Draconequus vanished from the spot. A moment later, Discombobulation reappeared near Luna Brynhild, who was standing outside among the other gathered ponies. Braeburn almost screamed at the sight of the Draconequus as Applejack and Big Mac both jumped, but Luna only looked up at him with a grimace, asking sharply: “What is it?” “Celestia's scared, but as good at giving orders as ever, just like Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing. Of course, she didn't get a chance to finish her orders to me before I ran off, but I know what she wants me to say to you, anyway.” Discombobulation paused, then mimicked Celestia's voice as he said calmly: “The town needs to be placed on full watch immediately. We also need to establish a base of operations. And I have found traces of concentrated corruption, which points to-” “Tyrant Wyrms.” Scrivener shivered, then gritted his teeth, looking out at the storm as he muttered: “That... that feels like Clockwork World to me. All I can think of is the machinery we saw, and how much of it seemed... alive...” Luna nodded slowly as Twilight Sparkle shivered a bit, gazing over at them and asking worriedly: “But... Tyrant Wyrms... I mean, they can't be controlled, can they? They're parasites but they don't...” “It's okay. It will be okay, Twilight, do not fear, whatever is going on we will figure it out.” Luna Brynhild soothed quietly, and then she glanced at Discombobulation, instructing: “Go to Antares, and tell him to start bringing the supplies here. Braeburn has offered us his home to use as a base of operations and I am inclined to agree. We can make additional camp in the apple meadows as well.” The Draconequus nodded, then politely bowed before vanishing again: this time, he stumbled a little when he reappeared beside the parked train, grabbing at his chest and wheezing as he mumbled: “It's always so much more tiring when you have somewhere to be instead of nowhere to go...” He shook himself out, then looked back and forth before groaning as he spotted the offloaded supplies, but no ponies nearby. The Draconequus strode moodily over to one of the crates and kicked it grumpily, then walked quickly past as he felt another pulse of unnatural, evil energies ripple through the air around him. Whatever was in the distance, it scared him. It felt... wrong, and diseased, and worst of all, dead. It was the kind of place that normally he would scurry away from until he could no longer feel its presence, but where he was and what he was doing was far outside the norm anyway, so he guessed that for once he was going to have to be a big boy and try to pretend to be tough. And he definitely wasn't here just because he wanted to impress Tia, of course, and even less because he was worried about her walking into this whole den of snakes and saws and pointy bad things. Discombobulation strode quickly to one of the holes in the half-complete wall, sticking his head out and feeling a little more relief than he wanted to admit at the sight of the four ponies staring off into the distance at the bruised sky and the flashes of unnatural light. He looked at them for a moment, then called loudly: “This isn't platform nine and three-quarters, and I would much prefer if none of you put on your robes or wizard hats. But you can say 'arr' like a pirate if you want.” Antares looked over his shoulder uneasily, visibly shaken by the energy distortions, but Scarlet Sage only smiled faintly as she asked quietly: “What did Celestia have to say?” “I... I did not go and see her.” Discombobulation lied huffily, looking awkwardly back and forth before adding quickly: “I saw Scrivener Blooms, though, who is rather serious and upset. I do not entirely blame her, since... all of these current events are proving to be a little serious and upsetting. She says you're all supposed to come to where she is, and to bring the stuff with you. Remember, the yellow dot on your minimap indicates where you're supposed to go. The other icons indicate side-quests, which you really don't have time for right now.” “I know where the ranch is, if it's anywhere near what it's like in our world, I'll be able to find it.” Apple Bloom said, and Antares nodded nervously, looking out at the sky again for a few moments. Discombobulation grumbled a bit, then he shifted back and forth before muttering: “Oh fine. Come along, little ponies. This is only because I have nothing better to do, of course, but I'll take you there myself. Maybe I'll even carry something. Maybe not, though.” “Don't worry, Bob, we wouldn't want you to hurt yourself. I got it.” Apple Bloom said easily, and Discombobulation gave her a sour look as the earth pony winked over at the Draconequus, and Scarlet Sage smiled despite herself as she followed her partner back into the train terminal. “I hope you make a wrong left at Albuquerque like all the other sexually-dysfunctional rabbits, and end up being hunted by a fat man with an inability to pronounce words correctly and a double-barrel shotgun.” Discombobulation mimed holding up a weapon and glaring down the sights, and then he paused and added dryly, glancing at Apple Bloom as she strode past: “I really don't like how many of my metaphors I owe you understanding to the psychotic Vasquez.” “Cowlick doesn't make guns anymore, though. Well. Correction, she doesn't make guns that kill on purpose anymore.” Apple Bloom replied, shrugging a bit as she strode towards their offloaded supplies: crates that had been passed on to them from a guard post they had docked at, a few satchels that no one had bothered to take with them, some other odds and ends. “This'll need two trips. I don't understand why they decided to move the terminal away from the town, either... I saw there's still a set of tracks that must lead down to the platform actually in Appleloosa.” “Maybe they expected to expand more, Red, and it didn't work out.” Scarlet Sage shrugged a bit, then smiled despite herself as Apple Bloom looked thoughtfully at the crate in front of her. “No. Don't do it.” “Don't do what?” Apple Bloom asked innocently, but she was grinning a little in spite of her best efforts to hide it before she stepped up beside the large wooden box and grasped it firmly, then grunted and quickly shifted, half-rolling it up onto her back and shaking her head out briskly. “Got it!” “Dammit, Red.” Scarlet Sage laughed and shook her head all the same as Meadowlark and Antares came in from outside, and both stared as Apple Bloom grinned over her shoulder at the other ponies, while Discombobulation simply huffed. “Okay, okay. Everypony, grab what you can before Apple Bloom kills herself.” “Oh hell, I'm fine. Sleipnir always made me carry more weight than this while training.” Apple Bloom argued, and then she shifted a bit and added: “Just make sure you let me know if it looks like it's slipping. Think I got it balanced but it ain't like I can see or anything.” The others nodded, and between themselves, the three other ponies gathered up most of the satchels and equipment bags, while Discombobulation created a large strap on another crate and hauled it up over his metallic shoulder, looking haughtily down at Apple Bloom. The earth pony only huffed at him, though, then remarked mildly: “I helped out putting that arm of yours together with Cowlick, you know, so I get fifty percent of the credit for you being able to do that.” “You're just jealous that I'm Jax. Well. Half-Jax.” Discombobulation paused meditatively. “I wonder if that's racist or not. But I'm saying it as a good thing. Unless that makes me the token black character who gets killed off at the start of every horror movie.” Antares looked up dumbly at this, the glossy-black unicorn blinking, and Discombobulation cleared his throat awkwardly and waved his free hand. “Just forget I said anything.” The stallion sighed tiredly as Meadowlark nudged him gently, and Apple Bloom shook her head as she carefully began to walk forwards. But once she was sure the large crate was fairly firmly balanced, she picked up speed a bit and then frowned a little as she stepped around a half-finished wall, adding thoughtfully: “You know, now that I'm up here... I think I see why this platform is here. Yeah, yeah, see those marks there? They were going to pave a road here... I think this was supposed to be a shipping terminal, not a passenger platform.” “Fascinating.” Discombobulation said dryly, and when the engineer glared at him, he cleared his throat loudly and said awkwardly: “I apologize. I blame that ugly storm on the horizon, and the reek of malice in the air. It all lends to making me... well, I could really use a coffee is what I'm getting at, and I don't even like coffee all that much.” Apple Bloom grunted, then she and the Draconequus fell in step with each other, leading the group together as Scarlet Sage smiled and followed behind the two, while last came Meadowlark and Antares. The young couple were staying close, and Antares kept shooting nervous looks towards the storm at the horizon, even as Meadowlark said quietly: “Mir, it's gonna be okay.” “I just...” Antares didn't know how to put it into words: how strong that unnatural feeling had become with the storm on the horizon, or the way... he couldn't focus, how his mind was aching. It was like the energy in the air was amplifying his stress and frustration, and he shook his head hurriedly as he looked ahead silently, then smiled faintly when Meadowlark stepped close and stretched out a wing, half-wrapping it around him as she kissed his cheek quietly. It reassured him, and he felt like even if he hadn't said anything, she all the same understood him. And as they strode quietly in the wake of the other ponies, he began to talk even before he realized what he was saying, explaining: “It's hurting me. It's getting in my head, because that energy feels... familiar, but warped. It feels like my Mom and Dad, but... wrong, and nasty, it's all the things I grew up with protecting me turned evil. Darkness... but not darkness like I grew up surrounded by.” “More than that, you sense something... more than that, don't you?” Meadowlark asked quietly, and Antares smiled faintly even as he nodded slowly, closing his eyes. “Look, we're going to deal with it... whatever it is out there. And we're going to do it together. I'm going to stay with you the whole time, by your side.” “I appreciate it, Meadowlark. More than I can say.” Antares said softly, and then he shook his head and looked down with a quiet laugh, closing his eyes. “I've got this awful feeling about things, though... a feeling I just can't shake. Like something bad is going to happen.” “I hate it when you say that, because it usually ends up being true, Antares.” Scarlet Sage murmured, looking uneasily over her shoulder, and Antares smiled wryly as he looked up at her before she sighed and tossed her own nervous glance in the direction of the storm. “Let's just... keep moving forwards for now. There's not a lot else we can really do, right?” “Right.” Antares said after a moment, and then he hesitated before looking up and asking quietly: “Scar... do you think Dad's going to be okay?” “Yeah, I do.” Scarlet said softly without hesitation, and then she smiled over her shoulder at Antares. “He's got Mom, and Twilight, and me and you, right? Not to mention all his other friends and family and... he's tough. You know Dad's tough.” Antares Mīrus nodded in agreement, then he glanced down hesitantly before Discombobulation said dryly from the front of the group: “Luna really has no purpose in life except to make as many people around him as miserable as possible. But because of that, he'll never be without a purpose in life. And if you have purpose, you can survive. He's going to be fine, and you're gonna go far, kid.” “Allonym said that last line to me once before.” Antares said thoughtfully, and Discombobulation made a loud retching sound, making the stallion smile despite himself as Scarlet Sage rolled her eyes in amusement. “You can't still not like him.” “He'd want me to hate him. Whether he's dead or not.” Discombobulation argued, looking moodily ahead. “Just being dead doesn't make you any less of a dick then you were in life. It just makes you dead. And by the way, that is my original quote, all my own thoughts, not taken from anywhere.” “So your original thoughts sound like Dad when he's in a bad mood?” Scarlet Sage asked mildly, and Discombobulation slowly turned a sour look on her, but she only shrugged innocently. “Hey, just saying.” The Draconequus grumbled a little, then he said sourly: “At least I don't require power tools to get off, little miss plug-in. Oh, wait, wait, I can do better than that.” Discombobulation paused as Scarlet Sage looked sour and Apple Bloom glared at him, then he suddenly posed with one hand in the air, declaring in a chipper voice: “Strap on! Apply directly to the-” “I'll apply my hoof up your ass if you don't stop.” Apple Bloom interrupted grouchily, glaring over at him, and the Draconequus grumbled, the two glowering at each other as Scarlet Sage sighed and Antares tried desperately to think of something other than... oh god oh god oh god. “Anyway, I'll have you know that-” “Look, there's the ranch up ahead, I'm going on ahead!” Antares shouted almost desperately, and then he shot off like a rocket, almost knocking both Apple Bloom and Discombobulation over as he charged through the desert and straight towards the ranch house, bags filled with equipment rattling loudly against his body. To his surprise, although the ranch house was visible, it took him much longer to reach it than he'd expected: almost ten minutes, and most of that had been spent running. He wheezed as he reached the main yard, beginning to approach... and then he heard the distinct sound of a rifle cocking, looking slowly up to see both a grizzled Pegasus and the bore of a gun glaring at him. Antares slowly swallowed, then he offered a weak grin, asking lamely: “You uh... you're not Braeburn by any chance, are you?” When his only response was the Pegasus narrowing his eyes, Antares cleared his throat. “Uh. Sorry, then, I'll... I'll just uh...” “What are... idiot, that is my son!” Luna's voice shouted angrily, and Antares wheezed in relief as he looked up to see his mother approaching. The Pegasus grumbled moodily as he lowered his weapon, and the mare glared down at him, even as the ancient pony didn't so much as flinch. “And what manner of idiocy art thou practicing, in any event, pointing such ugly weaponry at any stranger who steps upon land that is not even thine own!” “Oh, get out of my face, hag!” the old Pegasus snapped, glaring up at her, and Luna gaped down at the grizzled stallion as he huffed, sending rancid, whiskey-reeking breath washing out over her features. “This ain't a place for little girls playing dressup to-” Luna growled, reaching out and ripping the rifle out of the Pegasus' hooves, almost knocking the old stallion over. He yelled and grabbed at it, both of them ignoring the other ponies that hurried over, but Luna held it childishly above her head, where the Pegasus couldn't reach with his wing broken. “How dare thee! Why, if thou weren't such a doddering, ancient wretch, I would bring mountains of pain tumbling down upon thy old, ugly head, great drunken coot!” “Hey, hey, whoa, calm down now!” Braeburn managed to squeeze himself between the two ponies, and then he grinned lamely, looking back and forth as Antares watched lamely from the sidelines. “Look uh... okay, Tex, thank you for all the help but you can go on home for now, we got things here handled, right? And Miss Brynhild, it'd be mighty nice of you to just... pass that rifle back over.” “Very well.” Luna said moodily, in a tone that Antares recognized meant trouble... and then Braeburn gaped as Luna gritted her teeth and slowly bent the rifle almost in half, the wooden stock splintering and the barrel warping before she grumpily held it down to Braeburn. He took it with a look of disbelief, and the grizzled Pegasus leaned grouchily past the earth pony, then stared at the broken weapon before he let out a yell of frustration and spun around, spitting curses the whole time as he stomped away. And then Braeburn slowly turned the gun back and forth in his hooves and whimpered: “My rifle.” Luna's grin turned to puzzlement, and then she asked slowly: “Wait... thy rifle?” “Yeah, it isn't Tex's... he's just been borrowing it, like how he lives in what was the old storage shed and well...” Braeburn stumbled to a halt, then looked awkwardly up at Luna, and Luna looked lamely back at the stallion. Then Scrivener awkwardly strode up beside the two, saying carefully: “Don't worry, Braeburn, we'll uh... we'll get it fixed, okay? You just uh... don't worry about it or anything, really, we have a friend who is great with this kind of thing. Luna, let's go show Antares where he can store the things.” “Yes, yes. Uh. Come along, Antares. Where are the others, though?” Luna asked quickly, as Braeburn only continued to sit lamely in front of the house, as Applejack shook her head slowly and Big Mac walked over to pat his cousin gently on the back. Antares smiled awkwardly, mumbling about how he'd hurried ahead; when the others arrived some fifteen minutes later, Discombobulation and Apple Bloom still arguing, it made it a little clearer why the stallion had done so. Luna, however, quickly stopped them from fighting by remarking that Twilight Sparkle had gone to fetch Celestia some time ago, meaning she would be arriving shortly, and the chimerical creature had hurriedly dropped his crate and volunteered to go and get the rest of the things from the train station. Celestia arrived only a few minutes after Discombobulation left: Princess Luna was with her, but Twilight Sparkle had agreed to stay in town to begin setting up wards with Shining Armor's assistance. Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash were also eager to help, and were rounding up every capable pony they could find in town to assist defending Appleloosa. Celestia already had a plan: something that surprised the ponies of this layer, but didn't Luna Brynhild or any of the others who knew all too well how sharp the mind of the ivory mare was. More than a plan, though, Luna Brynhild could feel that the Valkyrie fury had been awoken in her big sister's blood, and called for justice and revenge for these innocent ponies that had been preyed on by vicious, cowardly enemies. After all, she could feel that call herself... and she was all too eager to sate that hunger, and with luck, save the ponies of this layer from suffering any more than they already had. Top ↑